Back in the day, new musical artists would hand out demo tapes to independent radio stations, hoping to get air play and recognition. Today, with most radio being under corporate control, this form of marketing is less of an option. Thankfully, websites like Noisetrade have been created that allow emerging artists to distribute their work.

Listeners benefit, too. All of the music on Noisetrade is free, and the downloads are fully legal. If you like a particular artist, you can leave them a donation, but this is not required. Most artists list the bigger acts that they are similar to, so you can better decide if you are interested in hearing them. I’ve seen all genres represented, from country to classical, with a lot of indie and alternative.

You’re not going to like everything you download. I don’t like everything I hear on the radio, either. Point is, it’s free, so you don’t lose anything by trying. How many albums have you ever purchased that were awful. You paid money for those.

There are a lot of good artists on Noisetrade. Over the past several months, I’ve discovered some truly amazing stuff and add a lot of great music to my daily playlists. For me, music is all about the sound. If it sounds good, I don’t really care who is performing it.

The Noisetrade website lets you search through their catalog and request downloads of albums or songs that interest you. A download code is then emailed to the address you specify. It’s that easy.

You might receive follow up emails from some of the artists you request, with information about concert dates, upcoming projects, etc. You can easily opt out of these later, but some of them are pretty interesting and I actually look forward to receiving them.

The Noisetrade blog provides interesting background information about some of the artists that they feature. You can also sign up for email updates that highlight notable releases. They typically send these out a couple of times each week. Sign up to receive them here.

Even the biggest acts got their start somewhere. Be a trend setter and preview new music before anyone else you know hears it. Check out Noisetrade and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what you hear.